How Does Alcoholism Affect The Family

Alcohol leads to a financial burden in a family’s household. For starters, alcohol is expensive, and most people don’t buy it off at first, and the bills will end up piling up one after the other. Alcoholics run up exorbitant tabs in bars, restaurants, and at the ball game. Then they might lose a job due to erratic behavior, absenteeism, or inability to

Alcoholism can cause emotional disengagement, and the family experiencing negative emotions and withdraws all together (Ackerman, 272). Each member of the family will react differently to the conditions that the alcoholic brings into the home, but there are a few things that can be identified that each member of the family will commonly experience. The spouse of the alcoholic will tend to try and shelter any children and deny any problems that they may face for their sake. They will shun the idea that the alcoholic has a problem and just keep living, but this can cause much more damage than it will save. Even though the spouse tries to ignore the problem, it still remains. Nothing will be solved and things will further worsen. When the spouse tries to deny all of the issues, they ultimately just isolate

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seventy six million Americans have been exposed to alcoholism in the family. That means one out of four families is affected by an alcoholic, making alcoholism responsible for more family problems than any other single cause (Parsons). Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the individual, but also everyone around the alcoholic. Alcoholics can make irrational decisions that are harmful not only to themselves but also to the people around them. These irrational decisions can cause financial instability for the household which, in turn, contributes to neglect.

likely to becomes unpredictable. For example, the drinker may become easily agitated and abusive. Another area of family functioning which is often affected by alcohol misuse relates to the kind of communications that takes place between family members.

Alcoholism is a demon, a disease, something reached for out of desperation. It helps with a person 's problem by deadening their senses, and increasing his problems at the same time by destroying his character. When you drink, you don 't have to think about all your problems, you can just let the alcohol wash them away from your mind. But it can never take away all your problems—they still remain, just your sense to care for them is gone. Alcoholism has a great chance to pass on to later generations, but sometimes growing up in an alcoholic family will make the children swear off the drink because they have seen what it can turn people into. It turns them into the basic raw human emotion of grief. They are miserable for alcohol is the only thing that can make them feel normal after awhile, their entire bodies ache for it. Even when they have given up drinking, their bodies can revert back after having just one drop again. Yes, alcoholism is truly a terrifying disease of the mind and body—not just to the addict, but also to the loved ones

Family problems can be at many levels. The children would lose all respect for the alcoholic parents because they cannot count on him; the

Many people, including alcoholics, are not fully aware of the devastation caused by alcohol abuse. Not only does alcohol have an impact on physical health, it causes a host of problems from a mental and emotional standpoint. This addiction is not only harmful to the body, it tears families apart, leads to job loss, and often causes isolation for the person who drinks.

Most would assume that the biggest problems incurred by an alcoholic would be on themselves, but I would argue that it is on the relationships that they have with their peers. Someone who may appear as a fully functioning individual may be extremely dangerous, dishonest, and destructive while under the influence. This scenario occurs in “The Glass Castle” with Rex Walls. The Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health defines alcoholism as “a chronic physical, psychological, and behavioral disorder characterized by the excessive, compulsive, and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol”. According to Klean Treatment Centers, there are three ways alcoholism affects the whole family: emotional hostages, stress,

As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser.

Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences

Many people that are alcoholics tend to have unsuccessful marriages, but why is this so? Alcohol slows down the brain’s decision making and can impair you mentally and physically. People that are heavy drinker can be very violent and take their rage out on their family. To add insult to injury, they may not even know that they are hurting their family because alcoholics can experience blackouts. It can impact families and how they view the world. The emotional scars that people can have could hang over people’s head for the rest of their

Change of behavior caused by alcohols has negative impacts on one's surrounding and will, eventually, creates a rift among loved ones. Alcoholic can do anything without thinking for the future as long as they get the money to buy alcohol, ones may use the rental money for the house to buy alcohol and the worst case could happen is he loses his jobs. With this, drinker cannot be dependent on and divorce is inevitable as he could no longer support his family. Not few child abuse cases caused by alcoholic parents. Studies have shown that "2/3 of child abuse case involves alcohol" ("Facts about alcohol"). Family members also began to avoid friends, hide problems and cover up for the drinker as they are ashamed of their family member who is alcoholic. "More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism" ("Dawson and Grant") Moreover, there is higher chances for their teenager child to be alcoholic too as they are used to seeing their parents drunk.

The social implications of alcoholism are somewhat endless. According to an alcohol rehabilitation website (www.promises.com/articles/social-effects-alcoholism/) they list the following the following implications:

In the United States, 17.6 million people – about one in every 12 adults, abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. (NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2012) The Mayo Clinic defines alcoholism as a chronic disease in which your body becomes dependent on alcohol (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2010), and indicates that more than 100,000 Americans die annually from alcohol related causes (Johnson) . Aside from the physical problems that alcohol addiction can create, there are frequently emotional and social complications. Alcoholism is a disease that harms not only the alcoholic, but also the co-workers and family of the alcoholic.

The audience will be asked to indicate weather they have been affected by alcoholism directly or indirectly. They will be asked to name the few effects they have experienced that they never liked about people engrossed in alcoholism and the extended effects that they have seen on the family.